The Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday amended the Transaction of Business Rules to increase the powers of the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir in matters related to the police, public order, All India Services, and transfers and postings.

The amended rules under Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, inserted new provisions defining the role of the lieutenant governor.

Under the amendments, any proposal regarding the appointment of an advocate-general, law officers and proposals regarding the grant or refusal of prosecution sanction or filing of an appeal will be required to be placed before the lieutenant governor first.

“Provided also that in respect of matters connected with prisons, directorate of prosecution and forensic science laboratory, the matters shall be submitted to the lieutenant governor by administrative secretary, home department through the chief secretary,” the gazette notification said.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under the rule of the Central government since June 2018 when the alliance between former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party collapsed.

On August 5, 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Centre ended the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. The former state was divided into two Union Territories comprising Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

In December, the Supreme Court in its verdict on petitions challenging the Centre’s decision had directed the Union government to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood “at the earliest and as soon as possible”.

The National Democratic Alliance government in the Centre has on several instances said that statehood will be restored in Jammu and Kashmir after Assembly elections are held there.

The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has ordered the Election Commission to conduct elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly before September 30, 2024.

J&K parties oppose amendments

On Saturday, political parties in Jammu and Kashmir opposed the amendments, stating that the move would “disempower” the people of the Union Territory.

In a social media post, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the residents of Jammu and Kashmir deserve better than a “powerless, rubber stamp” chief minister “who will have to beg the lieutenant governor to get a peon appointed”.

His party’s chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq the amendments were “a blatant misuse” of power by the National Democratic Alliance government “aimed at weakening the democratic voice of the people”.

“The Central government's preference for granting powers to an unelected lieutenant governor instead of an elected government is a clear attempt to undermine the future of a democratically elected government in Jammu and Kashmir,” Sadiq wrote on social media.

He added: “This should serve as an eye-opener for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP-led government's strategy is to disempower the people by stripping them of their rightful political strength.”

Mehbooba Mufti's daughter and media advisor Iltija Mufti said the amendments seeks to “disempower the powers of the next J&K state government only because BJP doesn’t want to cede control or lose its iron grip over Kashmiris”.

“Statehood is out of the question,” she said. “An elected government in J&K will be reduced to a municipality.”

Congress’ Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Vikar Rasool Wani termed the move “murder of democracy”.